What do You Think about Inter-City Car Sharing?

Remember good old days, when travel by road used to be all fun? The joy of a getting onto a carefree long ride, feeling the wind while you had the wheel in your hands with your most favorite music on the radio. Good old times, right? Unfortunately, with the rise of the petrol prices, the joy slowly transitioned to more of an economical pain and stopped making making much of a sense.

Snapping back to the recent past, I used to drive long distances every day when I was engrossed with the hustle and bustle of a day job. With two cars at the household, both of us used to go to work in different directions. With the public transport, non-existent I was riding low and mundane until I started car pooling with a colleague of mine. It was much easier to cover the distance with a companion to chat up about anything under the sun.

In theory, carpooling sounds like an extremely wonderful idea, be it to work or an inter-city ride. All hails to the guy who came up with it! (Who came up with it, like really?) Most of the cars on the road have only one or two passengers. Besides sounding like an economical junkie and bantering ‘Reducing our carbon footprint for a better future!’, it made more sense cost-wise and obviously a win-win in every way. It did work wonders for me with a trusted colleague calling shotgun besides.

Extending such pooling rides longer was the progress obviously. I haven’t tried inter-city carpooling much other than on a few occasions with friends. The very obvious reason being the fun factor of having more people in the car!Switching the rider’s position and taking a nap or being the snack distributor while the other takes the turn to drive, was the EUREKA moment of a ‘non-stressful’ ride!

It is certainly true with respect to me, that my spidey sense works 100% and I become a better driver when I realize that I have more people in my car. Naturally, having the wheel in my hands, the saying goes, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility!’ I drive with greater caution. A lot of people wouldn’t believe their eyes, if they saw my driving skills at the max when I was riding with friends, and am sure while pooling, my friends felt the same. But yeah, with time swaying by, it has become a thing of the past. Neither I have to commute long hours behind the wheel nor ride the Metro,to travel to Delhi or beyond.

Option to upload a government ID & become a member is something that reassures me, being a woman but only that much. Given that this is India, I might take a ride with a verified person. But I will take a ride with my friends any given day rather than a complete stranger. It makes sense in every way.

So, how about you? Will you share an inter-city ride with someone? I am interested in hearing from all my readers, not just women. What do you say?

I am Mridula Dwivedi, I love to travel! I started my travel blog in 2005. I have been going places since! For more details do check out my media kit! In another life I did a Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I was a professor when I quit my job in 2015.